Rapid Identification of Candida albicans by 'Spiking' on Blood and Chocolate Agar Plates.
- Author:
Mi Kyung LEE
1
;
Bo Rae G PARK
Author Information
1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. cpworld@cau.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Candida albicans;
Identification;
Spiking;
Germ tube test
- MeSH:
Agar*;
Cacao*;
Candida albicans*;
Candida*;
Humans;
Sensitivity and Specificity;
Yeasts
- From:Korean Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2007;10(2):150-153
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Colonial morphology of Candida albicans known as 'spiking' on a primary isolation blood agar plate (BAP) allows rapid and presumptive identification of C. albicans. We evaluated the 'spiking' appearance to identify C. albicans. METHODS: A total of 144 fully identified clinical isolates of yeasts and 10 type strains of yeasts were tested. All isolates obtained from the 5% CO2 incubation on BAP and chocolate agar plate (CHOC) were macroscopically examined for the presence of an irregular margin (spiking). The germ tube test was performed by incubating test organisms in 0.5 mL of pooled human sera. RESULTS: The sensitivity for BAP-spiking, CHOC-spiking and germ tube test were 93.7%, 91.1%, and 98.7%, respectively. The specificity for three methods was 100%. CONCLUSION: Use of the spiking identification on BAP can be useful for the economic and rapid presumptive identification of C. albicans in routine laboratories.
